Why So Blu?

THIS SUMMER, GET ROASTED WITH A SINGULAR COLLECTION OF CELEBRITY ROASTS FEATURING SOME OF THE 20TH CENTURY’S GREATEST PERFORMERS, ATHLETES, POLITICIANS AND PERSONALITIES

THE DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROASTS:

COMPLETE COLLECTION

This Ultimate Roasters DVD Set Features All 54 Roasts Hailing from “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts,” and Includes Roastees Such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, George Burns, Don Rickles, Hank Aaron, Wilt Chamberlin, Joe Namath, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, Dean Martin Himselfand Many, Many More!

The 25-Disc Set Includes Over 40 Hours of Incomparable Comedy, Along with Over

15 Hours of Bonus Features Highlighted by Comedy Sketches from “The Dean Martin

Show,” Exclusive Interviews, Rare Home Movies, Eleven Featurettes and a

Collector’s Book with Archival Production Materials and More

FAIRFAX, VA – Long before Comedy Central began generating ratings and headlines with their over-the-top roasts, one entertainment icon was pioneering the format with “The Dean Martin Show.” In 1973, the 10-year-old NBC variety show retooled in its final season and introduced a new feature: the “Man of the Week Celebrity Roast.” Patterned after the roasts held at the New York City’s famous Friars Club, Dean Martin’s Roasts quickly became a favorite with television audiences and eventually evolved to become a network series, “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.” And beginning with a skewering of comedy legend Bob Hope on October 31, 1974, the program would go on to become a fixture on NBC for the next 11 years.

THE DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROASTS: COMPLETE COLLECTION follows StarVista Entertainment/Time Life’s best-selling releases of “The Dean Martin Variety Show” and marks the first time that most of these classics from the Golden Age of TV will be released on DVD in a single collection. Featuring all 54 roasts from both “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts,” the program’s notable roastees included many of the 20th century’s most accomplished performers and athletes, politicians and personalities (complete list below), including: Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Carson, Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, George Burns, Don Rickles, Kirk Douglas, Danny Thomas, Gabe Kaplan, Hank Aaron, Wilt Chamberlin, Joe Namath, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan and Dean Martin himself. Among the hilarious highlights you’ll see is Rich Little recounting how he “taught” Jimmy Stewart how to do an imitation of Jimmy Stewart, Ruth Buzzi telling the story of her great battle with Muhammad Ali, and Tim Conway on whether or not Don Rickles was ever hit or jailed due to his material.

Featuring over 40 hours of top-shelf comedy from hundreds of celebrities including Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Dick Martin, Joey Bishop, Henry Fonda, Gene Kelly, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Redd Foxx, Ruth Buzzi, Flip Wilson, John Wayne, Angie Dickinson, Billy Crystal and many more, the collectible set also contains over fifteen hours of bonus programming including comedy sketches from “The Dean Martin Show,” rare Dean Martin TV specials that have not been seen since the original broadcast: “Dean’s Place” (1975 & 1976), featuring Angie Dickinson, Peter Graves, and Gov. Ronald Reagan; and “Dean Martin’s Red Hot Scandals of 1926” (1976 & 1977) featuring Dom DeLuise, Abe Vigoda, and Winters, exclusive interviews with roasters and roastees including Betty White and Jackie Mason, as well as Winters and Diller in heartfelt interviews taped before their recent passing. The set also contains specially-produced featurettes, rare home movies with Dean, family and friends and a 44-page collector’s book loaded with behind-the-scenes photos, classic quotes and production materials. Adding hours of classic comedy to this superlative collection, also included are two bonus DVDs featuring seven episodes from “The Dean Martin Variety Show” featuring guests such as Bob Hope,John Wayne, Peggy Lee, Jimmy Stewart, Orson Welles, Michael Landon, Don Rickles, Don Adams, Dom DeLuise, Jack Benny, Rodney Dangerfield, Nipsey Russell, George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Andy Griffith and Paul Lynde.

In producing THE DEAN MARTIN CELEBRITY ROASTS: COMPLETE COLLECTION, StarVista/Time Life taped interviews with 34 former Roast participants, production personnel, critics and fans including: Don Rickles, Carol Burnett, Ruth Buzzi, Tony Danza, Abe Vigoda, Angie Dickinson, Dan Haggerty, Ed Asner, Fred Willard, Jimmie Walker, Rich Little, Rip Taylor, Shirley Jones, Tim Conway, Florence Henderson and many more. The 25-disc DVD set also contains 11 newly-produced featurettes:

• Legends of the Roasts
• The Art of the Roast
• Ladies of the Dais
• Roast in Hell: Politicians Under Fire
• Sports Stars: Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts
• The History of the Roast
• The King of Cool: Always in Fashion
• Politically Incorrect
• Behind-the-Scenes
• Primetime Ribbing: Roasting Small-Screen Stars
• Beauty & The Beast: Ruth Buzzi vs. Muhammad Ali

Offered by StarVista Entertainment/Time Life exclusively online this summer, the set will be available for pre-order at DeanRoasts.com, rolling out nationally to retail in the fall.

CELEBRITY ROAST FUN FACTS:

• Zsa Zsa tried to keep all the dresses she wore on the roasts, but wardrobe wouldn’t let her.
• Martin roasted two sets of celebrities together, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, and Dan Rowan and Dick Martin
• Ronald Reagan tried out impressions on Rich Little.
• Michael Landon, Redd Foxx, Joe Namath, and Jack Klugman were the only celebrities roasted twice; Landon’s second time in 1984, being the final roast
• For Dean Martin’s roast, Don Rickles was host, and assumed the role of Roastmaster
• Comedian Nipsey Russell, impressionist Rich Little and talented character actor and comedian Ruth Buzzi appeared the most often on the Celebrity Roasts; Russell appeared 26 times, Little 24 times, and Buzzi 20 times